gameshowsfandomcom-20200213-history
The Price is Right/Price In Popular Culture
The original version of The Price is Right (or in this case The Prize is Priced) made an appearance on an episode of The Flintstones called "Divided We Sail" in 1962 which Barney Rubble appeared as a contestant. Barney missed out on one prize, but struck paydirt in the next round by winning a houseboat by bidding a mere two cents. In the 1986 episode of Sesame Street, TPIR was spoofed as The Trash is Right hosted by none other than Oscar the Grouch. Oscar's friend Grungetta was the contestant and she had to guess which trash belongs to the right person, even though the gameplay was nowhere near the way Price is played. Since she guessed all the trash correctly, she kept all the trash as the grand prize. In the 1987 film The Witches of Eastwick, you can see Daryl Van Horne (played by Jack Nicholson) ironing his shirt while watching The Price Is Right on a small TV in the background. In the 1988 Pixar short film Tin Toy, the TV was on in the background and one of the channels had The Price is Right on it. It had sound only since the camera focused on the baby and the Tin Toy, not the TV. Credits go to Mark Goodson Productions and Price Productions. In the 1989 film UHF, one of their fall TV programs on the U62 channel called The Lice Is Right is a parody of the show's title. Former host Bob Barker appeared in a cameo role in the classic 1996 Adam Sandler film Happy Gilmore where he and Happy (Sandler) got into a big fight due to having some trouble during a golf match. For one moment, Happy though he won (when Bob was unconscious Happy/Sandler said, ("The Price is Wrong, B***h.") but it turned out to be a trick for the tables were turned quite suddenly and Bob ended up winning the fight and saying ("Now you've had enough, B***h!). Adam, a huge Price is Right fan, visited the show during a Price is Right special focusing on Bob's 50 years on television after a playing of Plinko. In 2015, they were together again to relive that famous fight on Comedy Central's Night of Too Many Stars special. Adam Sandler and Bob Barker Fight Night of Too Many Stars - Adam Sandler and Bob Barker ADDITIONAL NOTE: In addition to the famous Gilmore/Barker fight scene, the classic game show Let's Make a Deal was briefly mentioned as a conversation piece. In the 2006 box office flop Date Movie during a brief spoof of The Bachelor called The Extreme Bachelor: Desperate Edition when the bachelor Grant Fonkyerdoder (played by Adam Campbell) is told by Harrison to pick one girl and eliminate the rest, a sped-up version of the Sheila Cole-era TPIR theme song is played in the background. The theme in particular was created by David Kitay. ADDITIONAL NOTE: This brief spoof also features a brief cameo appearance by Chris Harrison as host. In the 2011 box office film flop Jack & Jill (originally released on November 11, 2011) Jill (played by Adam Sandler) wanted to be on a game show as one of her to do list. She went on TPIR hosted by Drew Carey. Jill managed to make it onto the Showcase Showdown, but she hurt her arm in the process of spinning the big wheel. Despite the injury, she still won a lot of prizes. ADDITIONAL NOTES: This scene used the Sheila Cole-era TPIR theme music along with the Come on Down! cue. The set had Christmas decorations. Current TPIR announcer George Gray made an appearance. in the 2011 movie (originally released December 16, 2011) Alvin and the Chipmunks 3: Chipwrecked. Simon, Theodore and the Chipettes are riding on a basket to Zoe's shelter place on the deserted island. When the basket arrives at the place, Alvin who already arrived at the shelter prior to the others says the show's most famous catchphrase "COME ON DOWN!" The longest-running sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live (SNL for short) has parodied Price three times. The first was in 1992 as Sabra Price is Right hosted by Uri Shurinson (Tom Hanks). In 2012, another TPIR-like spoof called Super Showcase where a game show contestant (Vanessa Bayer) loses out on a showcase, so wacky-voiced starlets Vonda (Kristen Wiig) and Shonda (Maya Rudolph) show her all the prize she didn't won. After a five year absence, in 2017, a third sketch called The Price is Right Celebrity Edition featuring Lil' Wayne (Chris Redd), Tilda Swinton (Kate McKinnon), Chris Hemsworth (Alex Moffat), Ariana Grande (Melissa Villasenor), Bernie Sanders (Larry David), Tony Bennett (Alec Baldwin) and Sofia Vergara (Cecily Strong) with Beck Bennett as Drew Carey. TPIR Has also been parodied on Mad TV multiple times. TPIR was also mentioned in some episodes of The Simpsons. starting with the 1992 episode called “The Otto Show” where Otto starts to watch the show on TV in their house; in another episode called “HOMR” from 2001, where Homer Simpson acts as the animated dog and says, "Don't spay or neuter your pets!"; finally, in an episode from 2003 called “The Fat and The Furriest” where Patty and Selma mention they were on the show. An October 9, 1993 episode of 2 Stupid Dogs a cartoon that originally aired on Cartoon Network and TBS respectively did a parody of TPIR called Let's Make a Right Price (self-explanatory title) hosted by Bill Baker (a spoof of Bob Barker voiced by the late Casey Kasem). While the format was the same, the losers of the bids get doggy treats which is what both he Big and Little Dog (voiced by Brad Garrett and Mark Schiff respectively) actually want because they were both scavenging for food on the studio lot. ADDITIONAL NOTE: The title of the episode itself is a mix of Let's Make a Deal and The Price is Right respectively. A November 2, 1993 episode of Animaniacs called "Chairman of the Bored" the Warner siblings (Yakko, Wakko and Dot respectively) meets a man named Francis Pumphandle in which every calls him "Pip" (voiced by Ben Stein). Pip then talks about cheeseballs and mentions about Bob Barker to the siblings and cannot stop shaking their hands. A 1995 episode of Beavis & Butt-Head called "Screamers". It mentioned TPIR when both Beavis and Butt-Head are watching the show on their TV. It had ladies screaming when they've won their showcase and then the announcer says "Tomorrow on The Price is Right". Price was also mentioned in some episodes of Family Guy. The first few episodes were for Barker's era. The first mention was in the episode "Brian in Love" from 2000 where Brian was watching the end of an episode and Bob gave his "spayed and neutered" signoff; a frustrated Brian wished he would "just die already." Another episode called "Screwed the Pooch" from 2001 features Peter Griffin as a contestant on Survivor, as he accidentally knocks over the reality show's backdrop revealing the set of TPIR (both shows run on CBS). In "Tales of a Third Grade Nothing" from 2008, when Prince was on the show, he bid $350, a bid Bob initially did not understand and bid exactly correct. The episode "The Fat Guy Strangler" from 2005, while in contestant's row; after a contestant bid $780, the last contestant bid $781. That infuriated the contestant bidding $780, so he said, "F**K YOU!". In "It Takes a Village Idiot, and I Married one" from 2007, the Griffins rode the Cliffhangers mountain climber while Cleveland Brown was inside a Plinko chip. There were also a couple of episodes where Price was mentioned in Carey's era. The first clip from "New Kidney in Town" from 2011 was during Peter's Red Bull addiction; he appeared in the Showcase Showdown and gave the wheel an incredibly fast spin. After Peter sends out greetings to everyone to the camera, the wheel breaks off, rolls down and kills a section of the audience. Then Peter replies, "Whoa! Paramedics, come on down!" and goes crazy. In another 2011 episode called "Stewie Goes for a Drive" a female contestant got a very crummy showcase which included a hammock, chalk and a trip to Wilmington, Delaware. To much of her disgust, she replies, "I moved my abortion for this". Another episode called "Mom's the Word" from 2014, when Evelyn is kissing Peter in The Drunken Clam, TPIR comes on TV. Another episode called "Brokeback Swanson" from 2015, Joe tries to watch TPIR while manipulating the remote control with his mouth, however, it causes the volume to increase. In the episode "The New Adventures of Old Tom" from 2016, all of the female models of TPIR have been replaced with male models as it results in a male contestant on the show rejecting a car that was offered to him in the process. ADDITIONAL NOTES: Rich was to be in one episode of Family Guy but he was dubbed over when his contract was not renewed in 2010 and he was let go. Besides the first mention, Barker and Carey have provided their voices each time they have been featured. In the 2011 episode "Stewie Goes for a Drive", the background music plays similar to the theme song of Family Feud. In the 2016 episode "The New Adventures of Old Tom" (a spoof title of the 2006-10 Julia-Louis Dreyfus led CBS sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine) this was a reference to having Rob Wilson in 2014 being the first male TPIR model as of now he is replaced by James O'Halloran since 2014. TPIR was briefly spoofed in a 2002 episode of the former UPN/Adult Swim animated series Home Movies in one of the "movie montage" segments as The Price is Nice featuring Brandon Small (voiced by Brandon Small) as a Bob Barker-Like host and Melissa Robbins (voiced by Melissa Bardin Galsky) as a model for the washer and dryer set. The episode in general was called "Time to Pay the Price". On a February 1, 2006 episode of Drawn Together, a brief scene featuring the Child Services woman (voiced by Paget Brewster) stands in a TPIR-like set in front of the big wheel while urging people to have their Nicaraguan babies spayed or neutered is a spoof of former host Bob Barker's reminder as he urges viewers to help control the pet population by having their pets spayed or neutered after each and every episode of The Price is Right. The episode in general was called "Captain Girl". Robot Chicken has spoofed TPIR twice. The first was in a May 28, 2006 episode called "Message Chair" in the skit Bloopers! Three had a male contestant spinning the big wheel in the Showcase Showdown as he's getting caught in one of the big wheel's pegs, thus getting spun around multiple times continuously and getting plunked on the ground with each descent. Then in "Bob Barker's New Gig" for the episode "Squaw Bury Shortcake" (a spoof of the cartoon character Strawberry Shortcake) on August 19, 2007. Price Blooper.png Barker_on_Robot_Chicken.png Barker_Waving_Goodbye.png ADDITIONAL NOTE: Also in the same episode from 2006 Family Feud was also briefly spoofed based on the original Dawson version. Homestar Runner, a popular flash Internet Cartoon series from 2000 has referenced TPIR three times, the first one starting in 2003 in an episode called “Email: The Show”. Homestar's microphone resembles the famous pencil-thin microphone that was used by Bob Barker on the show from 1972 to 2007. Prior to this, another episode that also aired in 2003 was called “Main Page 19” where there were several allusions to the show: The trip to Hawaii board is styled like ones in longtime use on TPIR. The gremlin is revealed and announced in a style that was similar to TPIR. The chair has a "$" sign, implying that its price must be guessed like on any of the numerous pricing games from TPIR. The sound effect after the wrong answer was apparently guessed was styled after the infamous "Losing Horns" from TPIR. The last episode that aired in 2008 was called “Strong Badia the Free”, in which after Coach Z was chosen for the draft, he remarks: "I think they've all overbid! One dollar! One dollar!" A May 6, 2015 edition of the comic strip called Pop Culture Shock Therapy spoofed TPIR as The Price is Right: Cartoon Edition which features former host Bob Barker performing his usual service announcement by saying: "This is Bob Barker, reminding you to have your pets spayed or neutered!". To the horror of the contestant's dogs, as of which the third dog says: "Oh $?@!" ADDITIONAL NOTE: This featured both Peter Griffin and Brian from Family Guy along with Charlie Brown and Snoopy from the Peanuts comic strip. In 1994, Bob Barker guest-starred on The Nanny where he sat at a table when Nanny Fran Fine (Fran Drescher) spotted him. In the sitcom Cybill, Cybill Sheridan's cousin from Arkansas named Lyle Clocum (played by Jeff Foxworthy) is obsessed with being a contestant on TPIR. The episode in particular from 1996 was called "Pal Zoey". ADDITIONAL NOTES: This episode has a semi-reference to Jeopardy! as well. Comedian Jeff Foxworthy would later go on to host Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, The American Bible Challenge & The American Baking Competition. Additionally, in 2011, Foxworthy would appear on an episode of ''Shark Tank as a guest "shark" in season 2. in a 2001 episode of the sitcom Yes Dear called "The Ticket" Jimmy (played by Mike O'Malley cheats on TPIR by spinning the wheel from behind to go to $1.00. He cheated because he got another traffic ticket. After Barker rebukes Jimmy, it makes him cry as Barker comforts Jimmy by hugging him. After this, Barker tells him that after the show that they'll play Plinko and that there's a trampoline in the showcase for today, which makes Jimmy feel much better. During Bob's final year as host, the show made an appearance on How I Met Your Mother for the episode "Showdown" in 2007, in which Barney Stinson (Neil Patrick Harris) was a contestant on the show. Barney claimed that Bob Barker was his father (which is completely untrue since Bob never had human children, and Neil knows it), so he came on the show just to meet and impress him. Barney was on a roll that day. The pricing game he played was Clock Game and he got the price of the first prize on his first guess (an achievement at least two contestants on the real show did) though we never saw it; on the second prize, Barney purposely guessed $1,000,000 all just to show Bob Barney's self pictures; by the time the clock almost ran out, Barney came through with the right answer and won. Later Barney spun $1.00 on the wheel and bids exactly right on the Showcase (something that would really happen during Drew Carey's second year as host); and just when Barney was about to tell Bob that he was Bob's son, he instead congratulated Bob on 35 years as host of The Price is Right. Barney never kept any of the prizes he won; instead he gave them all as wedding presents to his friends and newlyweds Marshall and Lily (Jason Segel and Alyson Hannigan). The main plot of the episode in fact was the preparation of their wedding day. Neil went on to actually be a special guest on The Price is Right during celebrity week at the beginning of 2012 and won $65,238.40 for his favorite charity. The NBC sitcom 30 Rock episode called “Christmas Special” from 2008 has Tracy Jordan (Tracy Morgan) saying to Liz Lemon (Tina Fey), "If all you wanted was a hug from a black person, maybe you should host The Price Is Right!". The Price is Right was also part of the plotlines during three consecutive episodes of The Bold and the Beautiful. Forrester Creations hasn't been doing too well, so Pam Douglas (Alley Mills) gave a call to The Price is Right and asked them to show off their fashion pieces on the models, but the show declined. So what Pam did instead was to appear on the show as a contestant and took Donna Logan (Jennifer Gareis) with her, much to Donna's chagrin. As it turned out, Donna was picked to be a contestant and surprisingly did very well. She won her pricing game which was Let 'em Roll after winning her One-Bid down at Contestant's Row, beat her two opponents at the Showcase Showdown Big Wheel and ended up winning both Showcases; during the closing of the show (like all loved ones of Showcase winning contestants) Pam came up on stage where she finally met Drew Carey. Additionally, Pam reveals her own fan crush on Rich. NOTES: Prior to these episodes, Bob Barker made a guest appearance on the popular soap opera. Two of the models had connections to B&B: Gwendolyn Osbourne-Smith started out as one of the models on that show before becoming a TPIR model and Manuela Arbeláez appeared in two episodes of B&B alongside Ellen Degeneres Show DJ Tony Okungbowa (Bob Barker ironically was one of Ellen's guests during the time of his final year); Jack Wagner of B&B made two guest appearances on TPIR. In 2001, TV Guide magazine ranked TPIR #1 as one of the 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time. Prior to this, in 2013, TPIR was ranked again as #5 as one of The 60 Greatest Game Shows of All Time. In 2002, TPIR had its own hour-long documentary on E! True Hollywood Story. In 2003, TPIR was mentioned as a topic on VH1's nostalgic miniseries I Love The 70's 1978 episode. In 2006, GSN ranked TPIR #4 as one of The 50 Greatest Game Shows of All Time. This special was hosted by Bil Dwyer. In the pilot episode of the Lifetime legal comedy-drama/fantasy series called Drop Dead Diva from July 12, 2009, when Deborah "Deb" Dobkins (played by Brooke D'Orsay) tries to do a hand model pose as her boyfriend Grayson Kent (played by Jackson Hurst) gives her a green bottle of nail polish in order to paint her fingernails with. Also her boyfriend looks at the TV while their both making out in front of the TV. A clip of the Carey era of The Price is Right can briefly be seen on a HDTV. Drop Dead Diva The Price is Right.png Drop_Dead_Diva_The_Price_is_Right_Scene_2.png ADDITIONAL NOTE: The character Deb Dobkins was killed in a car crash on a way to an audition for The Price is Right. In a September 7, 2009 episode of WWE Monday Night Raw, a spoof of The Price is Right was parodied as The Price is Raw featuring Bob Barker as its guest host for the episode. Opening credits to the short-lived 2015 reality show on TBS Meet the Smiths has its former model Gwendolyn Osborne-Smith (who's the wife to former retired NBA basketball player Kenny Smith) standing behind the big wheel/showcase showdown from TPIR. The 1984 song “I Lost on Jeopardy” (a parody Greg Kihn’s 1983 hit “(Our Love's in) Jeopardy”) by Weird Al Yankovic, referenced the show with these lyrics: "Don't know what I was thinkin' of; I guess I just wasn't too bright. Well, I sure hope I do better next weekend on The Price Is Right, -ight, -ight." The 1998 rap song called “My Flows Is Tight” by Lord Digga, samples the Sheila Cole-era TPIR theme song. The 2001 club dance hit, appropriately titled “Come On Down” by Crystal Waters, also samples the Sheila Cole-era TPIR theme song. The Chuck E. Cheese arcade game Loose Change uses the Sheila Cole-era TPIR theme song. The now-cancelled series @Midnight with Chris Hardwick has a recurring game called "eBay Price is Right" where three guests comedians attempted to guess the "buy it now" price of strange items that are for sale on eBay TPIR-style. In 2009, the comedy website CollegeHumor spoofed TPIR as Slumdog The Price is Right (or Slumdog Price is Right) based on the current Carey version. Slumdog_PIR_1.png Slumdog_PIR_2.png Slumdog_PIR_3.png Slumdog_PIR_4.png Slumdog_PIR_5.png Slumdog_PIR_6.png Slumdog_PIR_7.png Slumdog_PIR_8.png Slumdog_PIR_9.png The_Slumdog_Price_is_Right.png ADDITIONAL NOTES: At the time, this was spoofing the popular award-winning British-Indian 2008 film Slumdog Millionaire. On the actual show, there's always four contestants in "contestant's row" this spoof has only three, although this resembled Davidson's short-lived syndicated Price in 1994 when they also had three podiums in "contestant's row" in order to play a modified version of the Showcase Showdown called The Price Was Right. In 2017, a Subway Commercial was seen, when the restaurant promoted their $6 footlong sandwiches, the current Kalehoff Carey-era theme can be heard at the end. Category:The Price is Right Category:In Popular Culture